This invention relates to a retaining or alignment plug for a door. In its more specific aspect, this invention relates to a door hanging alignment plug for pre-hung doors or door-frame units.
Prefabricated and pre-hung door and door frame units are in common use for new and remodeled building construction. If the door is not pre-hung, that is, if the door is not pre-hung in a suitable door frame or jamb, considerable skill and time is required to hang a door from its hinges at the building site so that the door is in proper alignment. Doors pre-hung in the frame or jamb at the factory eliminate the time and labor required at the building site to accurately hang a door from its hinges within its frame It is essential, therefore, during shipping of pre-hung doors that the pre-assembled door and frame retain its alignment or trueness.
In order to overcome any misalignment of the door during shipping, and until the door is installed at the building site, various temporary securing means or retaining means have been disclosed in the art and are in use. For example, U. S. Pat. No. 4,483,101 discloses a plastic retaining strap consisting of an elongated strap having a cup projecting at a right angle at one end of the strap. The cup projection is inserted into the transverse lock body bore opening to the face of the door, and then into the bolt bore opening to the free-swinging edge of the door, and the strap is then wrapped around the marginal edge of the door and door frame and secured thereto. However, the right-angled projection of the cup from the strap, and the transverse bending required upon placement of the strap, are disadvantageous affecting both the integrity of the strap and the accuracy of the alignment. Further, if the lock body bore has a diameter less than about two inches, the strap with the protecting cup cannot be fitted in place.
This invention has therefore has its purpose to overcome the disadvantages of the prior art, and to provide for pre-hung doors a simple door-hanging alignment plug so that the door will retain the necessary alignment until the door with its frame is hung at the building site.
In accordance with the invention, there is provided in a pre-hung door assembly having a door frame or doorjamb having substantially parallel opposed faces and opposed marginal sides or edges bridging the two faces. A door is hingedly mounted at one edge to the door frame, and the opposed free-swinging edge of the door is opposing one face of the jamb. The door has a first bore opening along the free-swinging edge for accommodating a retractable bolt, latch, or lock, and a second bore opening outwardly at the face of the door for accommodating a lock box and communicating with the first bore. There is provided a retaining alignment plug comprising: (a) an elongated strap formed of a flexible material and a cylindrical member projecting longitudinally from one end of the strap and adaptable for seating in the first bore; and (b) the free end of the strap being adaptable for insertion into the first bore and the second bore to bring the cylindrical member into seating engagement in the first bore so that the strap extends outwardly of the second bore and across the face of the door to its free-swinging edge, over the marginal edge of the jamb, and across a portion of the jamb face for securing the strap member to the jamb face. The strap is secured to the jamb by a suitable means such as a nail or staple.